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Education and Skills Bill

My Lords, I agree with what the noble Baroness has said. As I prepared for this Bill I had the opportunity to meet representatives from a wide range of organisations, many of whom have devoted years to helping young people to find the opportunities that we are discussing in this Bill. By and large, they welcomed the Government’s proposals to one degree or another, but one point that was impressed on me several times was that even if the Government and local education authorities opened up new courses, apprenticeships and training programmes, they would be worthless unless the people supposed to benefit from them are able to get there. Young people who seek training and education opportunities may not have the wherewithal to travel from place to place in pursuit of their duty under the Bill unless some provision is made for them. I have already spoken about the need for the Government to be quite certain that they have done all they can to enable young people to fulfil their duty. These amendments follow that theme.